Foundation garment for women



11, 1953 M. L. SCHWOERER 2,648;068

FOUNDATION GARMENT FOR WOMEN Filed May 1, 1950 I INVENTOR. M42) Lou/5 4 60/ 14/051252 sygzck w ATTORA/EK? Patented Aug. 11, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOUNDATION GARMENT FOR WOMEN Mary Louisa Schwoerer, Irvington, N. J.

Application May 1, 1950, Serial No. 159,163

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a foundation garment for women and more particularly to a combined brassiere waist and girdle.

It is an object of this invention to provide greater comfort in foundation garments for women.

Another object is the creation of a garment designed to maintain the body in correct posture.

A further object is the creation of a garment easily maintained'in a highly sanitary condition and quickly adjusted to the body.

Other objects of the instant invention will become apparent in the course of the following specification.

In the accomplishment of these objects, subject foundation garment is constituted of a combined brassiere waist and girdle. The brassiere waist is made of an inelastic member fitted around the upper part of the body, releasably secured in the front, and supported by adjustable straps cushioned over the shoulders. The girdle is constituted of an inelastic member releasably secured at the front. Around the bottom and sides of the inelastic member an elastic member is attached for fitting over the hips and the small of the back where attachment is made to the brassire waist. Means for adjusting the elastic and inelastic members around the body is provided in the inelastic member at the back and the bottom edge of the elastic member is extended downwardly on each side of the thighs to support a two-piece leg band for anchoring the ensemble to each leg and to exert an upwardly directed force to the front of the brassiere waist and a downwardly directed force on the girdle.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed descriptions when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing by way of example a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of the combined brassire waist and girdle constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of the combined brassiere waist and girdle shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of one of the two shoulder pads supporting the garment shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary rear view of the garment shown in Figure 1 but on an enlarged scale;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary front view of the garment shown in Figure 1, also on an enlarged scale;

Figure 6 is a front view of the dress shield 2 used with the garment as shown in Figure 5, but on an enlarged scale; and

Figure 7 is a side view of the dress shield shown in Figure 6.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings where like reference numerals indicate like parts, reference numeral Ill indicates the brassire waist and II the girdle.

The brassire waist I0 is made from any suit:- able inelasticmaterial, is designed to incase and support the upper part of the body, and is removably attached at the front by any suitable fasteners such as hooks and eyes.

Over each shoulder is a resilient pad [2 which may be made of sponge rubber (not shown) inserted through the open end of a casing for removal when the garment is laundered. The stiffening members [4 may be transversely attached to the bottom of the casing to aid in maintaining the pad in proper position over the shoulders. Adjustable straps l5 and I6 (Fig. 5) extend between the top of the brassiere waist on each side and the casing of the corresponding shoulder pad while similar straps I1 and [8 (Fig. 3) support the back of the brassiere waist. Any suitable means may be used for adjusting the straps, the means shown for the front straps l5 and I6 being the spaced eyes formed in the ends of the straps to coact with hooks at the top of the waist. The adjustable means shown for the straps between the back of the casings and the back of the brassiere waist may be the buckles as shown in Figure 4.

The girdle I l is constituted of an elastic tubular member 20 and an inelastic member IS. The elastic tubular member 29 is designed to be fitted over the lower abdomen, the hips, and the small of the back where it is attached to the bottom of the back of the brassire waist as illustrated. The inelastic member l9, designed to be fitted at the front over the upper abdomen, is vertically slit alon the line 2| with the corresponding edges releasably fastened together by any suitable means. Stiifening members 22 are attached to the inelastic member [9 on both sides of the slit 2| in a known manner and in the direction shown. The inelastic member is fastened to the elastic member in such a manner that the coacting flaps 24 and 25 thereof are at the back of the body of the wearer. Eyelets are made in the corresponding edges of the flaps and a lacer 26 is threaded through the eyelets as illustrated. Thus, the lacer 26 not only adjusts the inelastic member but also the elastic member to the body of the wearer. Of course, the brassiere and girdle could be made in two pieces and removably attached if desired. The elastic member 20 of the girdle extends downwardly over the sides of the thighs and has attached to the extended end a leg band 28. If desired, the leg band 28 could be made in two parts, an outer elastic segment 29 and an inner inelastic segment 30 which are attached end on end around the thigh by any known fastening means, the means illustrated being snap fasteners 31a.

To protect the outer garment, a shield 3| is inserted under each arm pit and attached to the shoulder by an elastic strap 32 (Figs. 6 and 7). The shield 3| is formed of the body member 33 and the arm member 34 which. are stitched together along the arcuate line 35 for fitting under the arm. I'he elastic straps 32 are stitched, as shown in Figure 6, along the sides of the arm portion 34 so that there is an upwardly directed pull on the arm portion 34 which tends to keep the member against the arm.

Subject foundation garment applies an up-. wardly directed force to the front of the upper portion of the body by fastening the back of the brassire waist to the elastic portion of the irdle which construction maintains the body in correct posture while at the same time giving freedom of movement. By anchoring the bottom of the girdle to the legs, the entire ensemble is held in position. By making the shoulder pads and the inner portions of the leg bands removable, the entire ensemble is readily maintained in a highly sanitary condition.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact disclosure herein described but may lend itself to a variety of expressions within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

.A one-piece foundation garment for women comprising, in combination, a girdle and a brassiere waist and leg bands, the girdle comprising an elastic tubular member for the lower abdomen and hips and small of the back of the wearer,

ber being slit vertically at the front, means for releasably securing said slit edges together, means for securing the bottom marginal edge of said'second mentioned inelastic member to the top marginal edge of the elastic member of the girdle at the back of the wearer, and

means for supporting said second mentioned inelastic member over the shoulders of the wearer; the leg bands comprising an elastic segment for each side of the first mentioned elastic member at the bottom, means for securing each elastic segment intermediate the ends thereof to said first mentioned elastic member, and an inelastic segment removably disposed intermediate the ends of each elastic segment.

MARY LOUISA SCHWOERER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 815,933 Reed Mar. 20, 1906 1,524,212 Rebsamen Jan. 27, 1925 2,058,991 Kahn Oct. 27, 1936 2,107,337 Moore Feb. 8, 1938 2,300,153 Herbener Oct. 27, 1942 2,458,279 Levy Jan. 4, 1949 2,505,616 Goldberg Apr. 25, 1950 2,532,059 Dee Nov. 28, 1950 2,537,781 Meyer Jan. 9., 1951 

